


We Play Pretend

by IrelandinIrish



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Band Fic, Dysfunctional Family, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, One Shot, Other, Protective Alex (Julie and The Phantoms), Protective Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Protective Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Protective Siblings, Sibling Bonding, Siblings, sunsetcurve
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:41:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28120305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrelandinIrish/pseuds/IrelandinIrish
Summary: One shots featuring the cast and characters of JATPI take requests - nothing too weird though my dudesA lot of these chapters will be inspired by prompts from pinterest or tumblr
Relationships: Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms)/Original Female Character(s), Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms)/Reader, Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)/Original Female Character(s), Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)/Reader
Kudos: 13





	1. I can't be here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke's little sister struggles with her first trip home as a ghost

_ 14 years old and living in a garage, no classes, no friends, not even a boyfriend- _

  
“Meg? Meghan!”

The girl huffed out a breath and slammed the journal shut just as the door of the garage opened and her brother walked in with a grin on his face despite the very obvious tears in his eyes.

  
“I’m not going.” She told him firmly, swivelling on the stool and crossing her arms “I told you Luke, I’m just not interested in any of it-”

Behind her brother came Alex and Reggie out of thin air, both with sympathetic expressions which told Meghan the three had been together that afternoon.  
“It’s not how you’d think little sis, they just sorta...sit, sometimes they cry I guess but I know that if you-”

Meghan stood up, grabbing her journal from the top of the piano, “You don’t know anything! How is going back there gonna help? We’re dead Luke! Mom and Dad can’t see us or speak to us and after everything they said all those years ago well maybe I’m fucking glad I’m dead!”

With that, the youngster disappeared and left her older brother speechless. He tugged off his beanie and wrung it in his hands with a sigh, closing his eyes as he felt Reggie squeeze his shoulder.

“She didn’t mean it bro, she’s still scared of it all you know?”

Luke simply nodded and turned to Alex with a quirk of the brow that sent the blonde from the room in a light poof.

* * *

It wasn’t hard to find Meghan, her special spot had always been the rooftop of the Orpheum, even when the four had been alive and that’s where Alex found her, dropping into a seat beside the teen as he watched her sob into her hands.

“I don’t want him to hate me ‘Lex, he’s all I have left!”

The boy reached out and began rubbing circles on her back, his expression softening, “Meg, he could never hate you - you’re his baby sister and as for having nobody else left...what am I, huh?”

“I didn’t mean-”

“I know kiddo, I know.” Alex released a breath and retracted his arm to adjust the cap on his head, “If going to see your folks once in a while helps Luke then it helps him but none of us are ever gonna force you to go too - we know what it was like for you guys back then.”

Meghan nodded slowly, squeezing her eyes shut so several tears leaked down her cheeks. When their Dad had too many drinks and got violent, Luke used to drag her from the house and escape to Reggie’s or Alex’ where they’d play games and drink cocoa until the little girl would fall asleep on her big brother's shoulder.

Their Mom wasn’t much better, used to blame the two for their father’s moods, smashed up Luke’s guitar and threw Meghan’s sheet music into the fire…

Alex grew slightly concerned when he could see all of this clearly playing back in the youngster’s mind, and he dipped forward to wipe her teary cheek with his thumb. “We have practice in 15 minutes” he reminded her “But if you need a while longer I can cover for you and-” he was cut off by the girl throwing herself at his chest and burying her face into the crook of his neck.

“Promise me you guys won’t leave me on my own?” she requested, her voice muffled and Alex smiled sadly as he whispered a promise into her hair before poofing them both back to the Molina backyard.

* * *

Inside the garage, Julie was showing the other two a new melody she’d been working on for the keyboard part of their next song. Her fingers danced along the keys and filled the room with a light tune that found both boys tapping their feet against the concrete floor.

The door opened and Alex walked in with Meghan close behind; “Sorry we’re late, didn’t wanna whoosh in just in case you guys were in the middle of a song.” He quickly took his seat behind his drum kit and twirled a stick between expert fingers.

Luke watched his sister trail after his friend and settle back onto the stool behind the piano, her head down so her hair fell in front of her face, but he still saw how red her eyes were. Ghost or not he felt pained to see it, knowing she’d been crying and all because of him too. Clearing his throat the boy picked up his guitar and played the opening riff, determined to forget it all even just for a little while.

  
_ I needed you but you were oh so gone _

_ Thought I could count on us but I was getting it all wrong _

_ Now I need you to hear me _

_ So I’m singing you this song _

_ Can you hear me? _

_ Can you hear me? _

_ I gave it all I had but that’s never good enough _

_ Tried to face the facts but when it hit me it was tough _

_ So I guess I’m saying sorry _

_ For putting you through that stuff _

_ Can you hear me? _

_ Can you hear me? _

_ Every note I play gets louder _

_ Every bar I sing gets clearer _

_ And when I leave it on the floor _

_ Yeah I need you to hear it _

Tears still glinted in Meghan’s eyes as she listened to the band play and she was so distracted by the lyrics that she didn’t notice her brother moving closer with every strum of his guitar.

_ Because I know it might be you and me _

_ But I will never let you down _

_ And in my eyes the perfect family _

_ Is this little one we’ve found. _

By now the boy was crouched in front of his sister and the song ended, his guitar vanishing just as the teen wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered ‘I’m sorry’ into his shoulder.

Luke didn’t trust himself to speak due to the sizable lump that had formed in his throat and so he simply pressed his lips atop his sister’s head and held her as the rest of the band slowly joined the hug.

* * *

The next morning when Julie woke up she stepped into her slippers and padded down to the garage where the others were trying to work out the Monopoly board.

“Never thought I’d see four ghosts sat around playing a board game but I guess there are worse things to happen in my garage-” she smiled and took a seat between Luke and Reggie just as Meghan stood up.

“You can take my place, I have somewhere to be” she explained hastily, glancing down at her appearance with an uneasy look.

“Do ghosts... _ have _ places to be?” 

“I’m going home” the words felt foreign in Meghan’s mouth and she forced herself to look at her brother, who was visibly shocked. “I thought about it a lot-” the girl admitted quickly, “I guess I realised that I can’t get hurt because...I’m not really there?”

Luke clambered to his feet “I can come with you-”

“No, I need to do this by myself, at least this first time...you get that right?”

“Of course I get it” he said softly, pulling her into his arms “We’ll be here, alright?”

Meghan nodded and took a step back before poofing out of sight.

* * *

_ The Patterson house didn’t look any different - save for a few extra weeds out the front maybe, but the place felt oddly unfamiliar to Meghan as she found herself on the driveway. _

_ She wondered if her room was the same, or whether her parents had turned both vacant bedrooms into fresh starts. _

_ Feet moving noiselessly across the gravel, the teen approached the house and warped through the front door - the warmth instantly hitting her as her Mom of course had the thermostat on full. _

_ The TV was on - way louder than necessary and Meghan sidled to the living room doorway to find her father sat in his recliner staring unblinking at the screen. There was an empty bottle of beer by his feet and a half-finished one in his hand. The man sniffed and wiped at his face before leaning forward and changing the channel. _

_ “Emily?” he yelled suddenly, startling Meghan who had fallen foul to that tone one too many times before. “Emily for fuck sake where are the damn batteries for this remote!” He made to stand up and as he did his feet collided with dozens more empty beer bottles on the carpet. _

_ Luke told her they just sat there, she thought that maybe the death of their two kids would have healed whatever rift had plagued the house but it hadn’t. Luke lied. _

_ Meghan closed her eyes and when she looked again she was stood in her room. The bed had been stripped and the posters ripped down, but it was clear that everything had been shoved into boxes on the desk - they were getting rid of her slowly then. _

_ Her brother’s room was much the same, except his photos were still up on the walls - him and Alex and Reggie, him and Bobby, him and Meghan….never any with their parents. The teen didn’t think he’d mind if she took them and so she grabbed the one of her and the one of the boys and shoved them into her pocket just as the bedroom door flew open. _

_ “There’ll be some in here, he had loads of shit like that remember?” _

_ “Do you think I care about some sob-story now? Just hurry up.” _

_ Meghan watched her mother brutally upturn box after box in search of batteries, Luke’s possessions flying everywhere until her father grunted and stormed out, his footsteps going next door - Meghan’s room. _

_ “When are we chucking all this shit out?” he demanded, just as the girl poofed in beside him “They’re dead Emily, not that they achieved anything while they were alive so what’s the use in keeping all this garbage?” _

_ “We can’t just erase them-” _

_ “The hell we can’t!” Her dad picked up a teddy from the top of the nearest box and Meghan felt her heart sink - Louis Bear was her childhood favourite and within seconds he’d been beheaded by her father, stuffing falling everywhere. _

_ Tears fell fast down the teen’s cheeks and she waited for both parents to leave, screaming at each other before she bent down and retrieved both parts of Louis, holding him close as she vanished from the house. _

* * *

“All I’m saying is if you put another hotel on this board then there’s no use in the rest of us playing!” Reggie looked helpless at the few notes spread in front of him and then back up at Julie who was grinning.

“Hey you wanted to play Reginald” she reminded him, almost flipping the board in shock when Meghan appeared beside them sobbing her heart out.

“Oh shit” Luke breathed, hurrying to his feet but the girl pushed him away and threw Louis at him. The boy caught the bear and felt his mouth go dry as yet more stuffing leaked to the floor. “Meg...Meghan I can’t-”

“They hated us” she whispered “I  _ knew _ they hated us but I let you make me think it would be okay to go back, to see that they’ve changed but they  _ haven’t _ Luke! They think we were useless and worthless and they’re glad we’re dead!” Her voice was strained with emotion and when Reggie came up behind her and tried to hug her she only broke further.

“I don’t want any of this, I don’t wanna be here, I mean it I’m done existing. I’m finding Willie and then I’m getting Caleb to send me over.”

By now all of them were on their feet and Alex’ eyes were flickering with worry “You don’t mean that squirt” he whispered “C’mon, we’re a family...I promised you yesterday we’d never leave you and I thought that went both ways?”

Meghan shook her head “I can’t ‘Lex, I can’t be here.” She took a step towards Luke who had tears welling in his eyes, Louis clutched in his hands. “I love you big brother, forever.”

“Don’t do this” he croaked, dropping the bear to the floor and gripping her arms “Meg please, I know you’re upset but you have us and-” but Meghan shook her head again before turning to Julie.

“Look after them for me?” she requested, reaching out to briefly squeeze Reggie’s hand before she vanished into silence.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a particularly nasty fight with their parents, Reggie takes his sister to the one place they'll always be safe.  
> FLUFF

_"You make me fucking sick you know that?"_

_"Oh really? Because **I'm** not the one whoring it up for the neighbours every five damn minutes!"_

_"No- you just go and fuck them when I'm not home instead!"_

They'd been going back and forth like this for over half an hour and even up in his room with headphones on, Reggie could still hear the malice as it vibrated around the house. The teen threw his head back with a sigh, wrenching the music from his ears and taking the short trip down the hall to his sister's room.

The door was open and there was no sign of the 14 year old anywhere and Reggie hoped for her sake she had only gone to the bathroom - it wasn't worth either of them venturing downstairs when their folks got like this.

 _"What the fuck do you want?"_ his father's voice was like ice and with one rushed check in the bathroom, Reggie knew his sister had been seen. He took the stairs two at a time, swinging round the edge of the doorframe in time to see the man raise a hand.

"Stop!" Reggie yelled out, breathing heavily as he marched forward and gripped Gemma's wrist, wrenching her away before their dad could strike "what's the _matter with you?"_ he ushered the girl behind him, eyes flickering to their mother who couldn't meet his gaze. "Forget it, we're going out, try not to kill each other-" Reggie didn't _do_ angry, but the possibility of Gemma getting hurt was an exception to the rule.

He still had hold of his sister, leading her out to the front porch and closing the door with a click just as the shouting started up again. The siblings exchanged a look before Reggie nudged the girl forward, digging his hands into the pockets of his jacket as they kicked their way along the sand.

"I'm sorry" Gemma sighed, bowing her head as they walked "I just needed my folder and I thought they'd stop at some point but-"

"-doesn't matter"

"Are you mad at me?"

Reggie raked a hand through his hair, tugging strands free from the gel "I thought we agreed Gem, we don't go near them when they get like that-"

"-I had no choice! I'm already spending most of my free time in detentions since I can never get my homework done! Reg- I just wanna get through high school without majorly flunking-"

"-I know" the boy huffed "I'm sorry, alright? Let's just...forget them, for a while."

Gemma nodded, looking around as the neighbourhood grew quiet for the night, "so are we going to Bobby's?" She saw her brother tilt his head _yes_ in her peripheral vision. Bobby was his bandmate, arguably the least fucked up out of the four Sunset Curve members, which meant his house and more importantly his garage studio, became a safe haven for the others - available to them 24/7. Last year, when their parent's fighting was only really just kicking off, Reggie wouldn't bother taking her with him when he left the house - after all who wanted their little sister coming to band practice with them? In fact the Peters' kids never used to be that close...not until the night Reggie returned from practice to find Gemma curled up on his bed with a black eye and a face damp with tears.

**"Jesus- are you...what happened?"**

**"They wouldn't stop screaming Reg, dad caught me trying to sneak out after you-" the 13 year old sniffled and pulled her knees up tighter to her chest "please don't leave me on my own here anymore" her voice cracked with desperation as he fell onto the mattress beside her and hesitantly pulled her into his arms.**

**"I won't" he whispered "I promise"**

And it was a promise the boy had kept ever since.

The two eventually arrived at the bottom of Bobby's driveway, the distant thud of drums coming from the garage instantly putting the siblings at ease. Reggie took his sister by the shoulders, propelling them both forward until they'd pushed through the double doors. "Yo" he greeted, Alex' impromptu drum solo ending as he saluted the boy with one of his sticks.

"Everything alright?" Bobby was perched on the table with his guitar but he flipped his hair from his eyes to raise a brow at the siblings- usually when they turned up outside of a scheduled practice it meant shit had gone down at home.

"The usual, you know how it is" Reggie shrugged, playfully shoving his sister onto the couch before making a beeline for his bass where it was hung up on the wall "Alex you too?"

The blonde smiled sadly "Been here near enough all day on and off, my folks are planning on attending an 'anti LGBTQ+ protest' and their prep didn't make for a happy home" he wiped an invisible speck of dust from his cymbals. Clearly keen to change the subject he said, "Luke's here too, but I'm pretty sure he only turned up to raid Bobby's fridge, he's been up at the house for nearly 15 minutes-"

As he spoke the doors creaked open to reveal their lead singer clutching a haphazardly made sub with a grin on his face, "-dude your mom has the best sandwich fillings I've ever seen, she even let me break into her book club stash of salami, plus I-" he trailed off when he noticed Reggie and Gemma in the garage, "-ah shit, your folks again?" he had flipped to serious mode in an instant, dropping unceremoniously onto _his_ couch where he promptly kicked his feet up onto Gemma's lap.

"It's just better if we hang here for a little while and then head back when they're asleep" Reggie said by way of explanation, playing a few experimental chords, "your parents were cool with you coming here tonight?"

Luke scoffed "They wouldn't be if I'd mentioned anything to do with the band," he took a bite of his sandwich but kept going much to Gemma's disgust as crumbs dropped onto her legs "but I just told them I was gonna chill with Alex and they didn't say anything about it- dude _stop wriggling_!" he flicked the girl's kneecap.

"You're an animal" Gemma chided, swinging her legs free and sitting forward to grab the sketchbook she kept stashed there, Bobby watched her nervously as his fingers toyed with the frets on his guitar "-alright which one of you ripped out a page?"

Busted.

"It was me, but before you get mad I-"

She approached him, smacking him with the book between every word of "Don't. Touch. My. Shit!"

"Language" Reggie drawled, ignoring the middle finger she stuck pointedly in his direction.

Bobby raised his hands to placate her "You left it out on the table, I was only looking but-" he lowered his arms and offered her a smile "-Gem you're insanely talented, I only took the one of me and the boys, I put it up in my room...I'm sorry."

The girl blew out a breath and let her arms hang limp by her sides, the sketchbook clutched between her fingertips, "it's okay, you can have it-" she retreated back to the couch and fell onto the cushions, tossing the book back onto the table before pulling her legs up beneath her.

"Err, everything alright kiddo?" Luke eyes her warily, brushing the crumbs from his vest.

"It's just my thing you know? When it gets too much I just like to draw and it calms me down, what I think...how I feel. Like- like sort of visual lyrics I guess-" she glanced up to meet Alex' gaze, as the most sensitive of the group she knew he would understand and sure enough he was nodding along with a sad smile. "I don't know how much more of it I can take Reg-" her voice was low as she looked helplessly across the garage at her brother.

He abandoned his guitar and joined her on the couch, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her tight to his side, "tonight was a bad one you guys" he addressed the group softly, "dad was gonna hit her again, I got downstairs just in time-"

"-Jesus dude" Luke sighed, scooting up beside him to give a comforting thump on the arm before resting his hand on the boy's shoulder "but you guys know you're safe here with us, always."

The siblings nodded and Gemma gave a weak laugh as she felt Alex ruffle her hair as he dropped down beside her, abandoning his drums in favour of his favourite girl. "We won't let them hurt you again Gem, we promised you that and we intend on keeping it-" As he spoke, the girl wrapped an arm around his bicep, her head resting on Reggie's shoulder.

From across the room, Bobby gave an awkward cough, not entirely down with moments of seriousness and affection like these. "Look," he began gently, "I gave you guys your own key for a reason, I mean there are couches and a bathroom and you know my mom doesn't care about raiding the fridge-" he looked pointedly at Luke who smirked, "-what I mean is, if you need somewhere to lay low for a few days then..." he shrugged.

There was a moment of silence and then "Wow" from Alex, his brows raised in surprise, "that _might_ just be the most emotional I've ever seen him, what do you guys reckon?"

"I mean it _could be_ " Luke played along, leaning forward "I might even see some glistening tear ducts over there, what you sayin' Bobby? Huh?"

"Hey! You dorks leave him alone!" Gemma wiped her face with her sleeve and got to her feet so that the three on the couch fell into each other. She crossed the room and on tip-toes she wrapped her arms around Bobby's neck in a hug. After a few tense seconds he hesitantly placed his hand on her lower back before snaking his arm around her waist. "Thankyou" she whispered, her breath in his ear as both tried to block out the howling from the boys behind them.

"Anytime G, you know that" he murmured back, releasing her to aim an empty soda can at Luke's head "you want me to kick you out?" he warned with a growl "shut up." He let Gemma drag him over to the couch, all five bodies squeezed together in the silence of the garage.

In a few minutes they would untangle themselves and have a jam session or rehearse a song from Luke's book, but for now they were content in forming a protective bubble around Reggie and his sister and letting them feel safe for a little while longer.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're Alex' best friend and when your boyfriend cheats, he helps you feel better.  
> Alive!Alex

The photo had been sent around the whole school, everyone would be laughing at you - the girl who believed a guy could actually love her. You'd been studying in your room when your phone lit up, a message from a girl whose name you recognised from your calculus class, there was a photo attached. Not really paying attention, you swiped it away and returned to your books, assuming it was a copy/paste situation or something you'd been looped in on by mistake - but then the texts started.

**_Y/N are you okay?_ **

**_What an asshole! You don't need him or his shit_ **

**_I will happily kill a boy Y/N just say the word._ **

The relentless buzzing drew you away from your studying once more and with a frown of confusion you finally unlocked your cell and scrolled through the messages from your friends before opening the file attachment. There he was, your boyfriend - laying in bed beside Courtney Asher...also known as one of the biggest skanks in your year. Any attempt to reason why they'd be together was shattered when you realised not only was _he_ shirtless, but her bra was haphazardly stuffed under the pillow beneath him. Tears pricked in your eyes and your breathing grew laboured as you swiped the image away with trembling fingers and buried your face in your hands as a sob escaped your lips.

* * *

Sunset Curve were as usual in Bobby's garage, the sound of _Now or Never_ so loud that there was no hope of any of the boys hearing their phones as they also began vibrating with this latest school scandal. Alex Mercer was their blonde haired drummer boy and your best friend since kindergarten, so when he'd joined the band they had no choice but to accept you in too. Luckily for them you didn't play any instruments and so your role was mainly to sit and fangirl while you hyped them up on their social media accounts. You knew just what to post to get the right reactions - if they wanted eye candy then you would spam clips of Luke whirling his guitar around or Bobby flicking sweaty tendrils from his face whilst shooting a wink at the camera, if they wanted to laugh then it would be Alex' reactions to anything the other boys did or even Reggie stumbling around in the background, forgetting anyone can see him. Your skills were unmatched and as a result the boys' had been booked into more gigs than a teenage rock back usually would have been.

Luke called a break, shrugging the guitar strap from over his head and making a beeline for the water cooler, wrestling Bobby on the way as they fought for the last soda. "Hey where's Y/N today?" the floppy haired lead singer asked, admitting defeat and settling on a water bottle as he fell back onto the couch "I've been working on some new poses for her Instagram-" he flexed a bicep, spitting out the mouthful of water when Bobby pinched it between thumb and forefinger.

"Err she said she had to study," Alex shrugged, twirling a stick between his fingers "but I'm sure she would love yet more photos of you pretending to be ripped bro-" he ducked when Luke aimed a pillow at his head, the object bouncing off the high-hat with a rippled _ding_. "Watch my babies!" he snapped, pinching the instrument to ease the sound as he shot a middle finger his friends way and then set about fixing his hair beneath its cap.

Reggie had been silent, the first one to retrieve his phone from the table and he scrolled through the message chain that had blown up beneath the photo of your boyfriend and Courtney. Reggie wasn't one to get angry, he was perhaps the most calm out of the whole band but he had also come to see you as a sister and so when he saw the image and had read some of the comments below, he dropped his phone back onto the table with a thud and kicked out at the stool beside him with a ground out _motherfucker!_

"Everything okay there Reg?" Bobby quirked a brow his way and shared a look with Luke who was equally concerned. Before the dark haired bass player could respond, the doors to the garage opened and you appeared - a sniffling mess with mascara running down your cheeks and your hair already escaping its messy bun. The sight of Alex broke you further and he had barely clambered out from behind his drums before you were falling into his arms and burying your face in his bright pink hoodie.

"I'll explain _...outside"_ Reggie muttered , grabbing Luke and Bobby by the arms and steering them from the garage despite their protests.

Alex held you against him for a moment and then gently pulled away, cupping your face in his hands as he wiped at your tears with his thumbs, "Y/N? What's going on? What happened?" his voice was soft as if he were talking to a child and he led you over to the couch and sat you down before perching on the edge of the coffee table in front of you. The picture was still burning into your memory and you didn't trust yourself to speak, clamping your lips together as more tears leaked down your cheeks. Alex scooped the loose tendrils of hair behind your ears and you felt guilty because you knew turning up like this and not explaining would pique his anxiety. "Y/N you're scaring me," he whispered which only broke your heart further.

"I saw-" you gulped and shook your head, "-phone, you haven't checked?" you looked up at him through damp lashes and he was frowning, patting his pockets for the device. "Everyone knows, they're all laughing-" your voice came out in a rasp, rough with emotion and you fell forward, burying your face in your hands with a muffled _I'm so **stupid!**_. 

"Baby girl what're you talking about?"

"I can't say it 'lex, please don't make me say it- just- just check your phone," your voice was bitter and you felt embarrassment surge inside you when he finally located it the other side of the room and brought it back to you, unlocking it as he went. 

You knew Alex better than he knew himself at this point, every twinge of his brow or flicker in his eyes but when he finally opened the photo and saw what had broken you, you saw an emotion that you'd never seen in your best friend before - pure fury. "I'm gonna kill him" he growled, stabbing his thumb at the screen as he scrolled through the comments "I'm not joking Y/N, he's dead, I'll do time for it-" you cut him off by reaching for his hand and pulling down beside you, your whole body curling into him to try and calm him down. You felt his arms wrap around you, every muscle earned from years of drumming pressed around your body in some sort of protective bubble. "I love you kid, never forget that" he whispered into your hair and you choked back a sob.

"I love you too 'lex," you took a few minutes to compose yourself and then looked about the garage, "I'm sorry for ruining practice-"

"You're kidding right? Luke was looking for an excuse to go and raid the fridge anyway," he stroked his fingers through your hair, "but don't ever apologise for coming to me Y/N, I'm your person, and you're my person...the same way it's been since we were 5."

You smiled weakly and blew out a breath, the knot in your stomach easing a little when you felt him rest his chin atop your head. "I hate him," you said quietly "I hate him so much."

"I know you do angel, and he deserves it, he deserves _a lot of things_ right about now."

"Alex you don't _do_ scary and angry, that's why I love you, don't let him change that-"

"-hey, I do scary and angry when it comes to _you_ Y/N"

The two of you sat cuddled up together for a while, your fingers linked as you twirled his rings and occasionally sniffled into his chest. You had your legs pulled over him, his arm rested across your knees as the other looped around your shoulders. 

"He cheated on me," you spoke into the silence after a while "with _her,_ with _that!"_

"Courtney Asher, walking STD" your friend said solemnly and you couldn't help but snort - the first sign of laughter since you'd seen the horrible photo not even an hour before. The emotion felt foreign to you right now though and was soon replaced by an overwhelming sadness that made your fists clench and your nails dig into your palms. "Shh," Alex soothed, running his thumb over your knuckles to try and ease the pressure "he's not worth hurting yourself bug, c'mon-"

"-how do I make it better? I just want to forget about them, about _him_ but I can't stop picturing that stupid fucking photo!"

Alex scooped your legs off of him and stood, turning and offering his hand to you which you took without hesitation and yet there was a dubious quirk to your brow as he led you across the room to his drums. "Sit," he told you softly, nudging you towards the stool and you sat, trying to ignore the absolute state of your face that reflected in the cymbal. Two sticks appeared in front of you and you looked up to see Alex holding them your way with a reassuring nod, "go on," he pushed "just try it-"

You knew how protective your friend was of his drums and so when you took the sticks from him you only allowed yourself to give the nearest a light tap before looking up at him with a forced smile that said _I feel much better now, I promise_. But Alex knew you too well for that and so he joined you round the other side of the kit and took your hand in his, forcing a harder hit to the drums as you felt your fingers vibrate. You had to admit it was a good feeling and so you tried again, bringing his hand with yours this time as you swung down more powerfully and let the sound vibrate around the room. "Wow-"

"-see, now just...go to town, wail on 'em" your friend instructed, stepping back and folding his arms like a proud teacher letting his student play unattended for the first time.

At that point you didn't need telling twice and so you brought your foot down on the pedal at the same time both sticks hit the drum and cymbal respectively, an absolutely chaotic din being the only noise you could make. Alex didn't even flinch, just nodded at you to go again and so you did, again - and again - and again until for the first time since you got there, your laughter filled them room which brought the grin back to the blonde's face.

The sound of drumming had lured the other boys back and they peeked in the doorway, watching you take all your frustrations out as you no doubt pictured your boyfriends face being battered with the sticks. Alex nodded them in and placing a lingering kiss atop your head he left your side to join the others on the couch.

"Reggie told us," Luke began, leaning into the drummer's ear to speak "so what're we doing about it?"

"Nothing"

" _Nothing?_ Alex he broke her heart man, look at her!"

The blonde shook his head, kicking one leg over the other "you know she'd kill us Luke, all that I care about is Y/N's happiness and if that means not beating the shit out of her douchebag ex-" he caught the raised brows his way and huffed "-watching _you guys_ beat the shit out of her douchebag ex, then that's what I'll do."

As you continued to essentially batter the hell out of your best friend's drum kit, your cell began to vibrate on the table in front of the boys and all four leaned forward as your boyfriend... _ex boyfriend's_ face lit up the screen.

"Someone has a death wish" Reggie hummed, falling back against the cushions at the same time Alex swiped the phone and clenched it in his hand, "dude? What're you doing?"

"I said I wouldn't hurt him, but that doesn't mean I can't stop him hurting _her_ ," he glanced over at you and then back down at your cell "keep an eye on her for me," he murmured and with that he had slipped from the garage and hit answer, a tirade of expletives and threats already heading your ex' way.


End file.
